Google Duo, a simple 1-to-1 video calling app • Hacker News Board

Re: Google Duo, a simple 1-to-1 video calling app

#301

Post by mikecb » Tue, Aug 16, 2016, 3:30 PM UTC

vthallam wrote: post #293

Guess i'm in the minority of users here who loves this app and really wanted a facetime like thing on Android. Hangouts work, but it's heavy and not a good experience overall. And facetime is ios only, so Duo will definitely bridge this gap. I read on a Verge's article that Google wants to make Hangouts enterprise focussed by integrating more into the Google apps and keep Allo/Duo as the consumer focused communicatio…

> make Hangouts enterprise focussed by integrating more into the Google apps and keep Allo/Duo as the consumer focused communication apps which i think is a great strategy.

This makes a lot of sense: there are some big differences in the experiences wanted by these two groups.

Edit: and there's a whole story about that: https://www.engadget.com/2016/08/16/google-hangouts-business...

Re: Google Duo, a simple 1-to-1 video calling app

#302

Post by JshWright » Tue, Aug 16, 2016, 3:34 PM UTC

vthallam wrote: post #293

Guess i'm in the minority of users here who loves this app and really wanted a facetime like thing on Android. Hangouts work, but it's heavy and not a good experience overall. And facetime is ios only, so Duo will definitely bridge this gap. I read on a Verge's article that Google wants to make Hangouts enterprise focussed by integrating more into the Google apps and keep Allo/Duo as the consumer focused communicatio…

As a Project Fi user, I will very much miss the ability to seamlessly carry on SMS conversations from Hangouts on all of my devices. I really hope that functionality is added to Allo.

Re: Google Duo, a simple 1-to-1 video calling app

#303

Post by untog » Tue, Aug 16, 2016, 3:37 PM UTC

vthallam wrote: post #293

Guess i'm in the minority of users here who loves this app and really wanted a facetime like thing on Android. Hangouts work, but it's heavy and not a good experience overall. And facetime is ios only, so Duo will definitely bridge this gap. I read on a Verge's article that Google wants to make Hangouts enterprise focussed by integrating more into the Google apps and keep Allo/Duo as the consumer focused communicatio…

> Once all of android users get this pre installed

And how far in the future will that be? Will Samsung install it on their phones?

I'm sure Duo isn't bad, but I'm not going to be able to convince my friends to sign up for it when Facebook Messenger already exists.

Re: Google Duo, a simple 1-to-1 video calling app

#304

Post by randomguy7788 » Tue, Aug 16, 2016, 3:39 PM UTC

untog wrote: post #252

perseusprime11 wrote: post #201

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My guess is Duo will be like Inbox competing with gmail. I am guessing here but I think Google is on to something around innovation. They are launching innovative future facing apps without the constraints of legacy systems. They will use this approach to figure out which features work and back port them into their legacy apps. Not a bad approach if it works.

But this requires you and all your friends to sign up to yet another system, with yet another account. "Try this app, at has some features that may or may not make it into Hangouts" is not a great sell for my friends.

thankfully looks like this one doesn't need an account

Re: Google Duo, a simple 1-to-1 video calling app

#305

Post by vthallam » Tue, Aug 16, 2016, 3:42 PM UTC

untog wrote: post #303

vthallam wrote: post #293

Guess i'm in the minority of users here who loves this app and really wanted a facetime like thing on Android. Hangouts work, but it's heavy and not a good experience overall. And facetime is ios only, so Duo will definitely bridge this gap. I read on a Verge's article that Google wants to make Hangouts enterprise focussed by integrating more into the Google apps and keep Allo/Duo as the consumer focused communicatio…

> Once all of android users get this pre installed And how far in the future will that be? Will Samsung install it on their phones? I'm sure Duo isn't bad, but I'm not going to be able to convince my friends to sign up for it when Facebook Messenger already exists.

Not very long i guess based on the comments from Sundar/VP of communications at Google's comments. They say they have a great plan for user acquisition.

This is a new ground up video app and so the performance is better compared to other apps(I tested it, its definitely better than hangouts/messenger/skype, but probably same as facetime quality).

Re: Google Duo, a simple 1-to-1 video calling app

#306

Post by rogerdpack » Tue, Aug 16, 2016, 3:50 PM UTC

spacemanmatt wrote: post #148

flamedoge wrote: post #38

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Just need 4 front facing cameras

Really, they need a camera a bit above center of the screen.

Or maybe one on the side of your phone, but forward facing?

Re: Google Duo, a simple 1-to-1 video calling app

#307

Post by rogerdpack » Tue, Aug 16, 2016, 3:54 PM UTC

camiller wrote: post #235

losteverything wrote: post #225

In my entire post tech life and post tech environment I have never seen anyone use, talk or desire to have a video call. (Save 1 when a patron tested FaceTime on their new iPhone.) What will make video calling desireable for the average Joe?

My daughter uses facetime every evening talking to one or another of her girlfriends from high school. I think certain demographics will be more inclined to use it than others.

So in essence this is an attempt to be a facetime competitor?

Re: Google Duo, a simple 1-to-1 video calling app

#308

Post by gonvaled » Tue, Aug 16, 2016, 4:00 PM UTC

chatmasta wrote: post #199

wutbrodo wrote: post #82

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yea I think the US is definitely an outlier there; Out of the couple dozen countries I've visited recently outside of the US, Whatsapp seems like hands-down the most popular messaging app (whereas in the US, almost no one I know uses it unless they're in frequent contact with a non-trivial number of foreigners).

I think a big reason for this is that in Europe people frequently move between countries, eg for school or work or vacation. This often means changing SIM cards and local phone number. So it makes sense to use whatsapp because it's data based and you can keep the same account across SIM card changes.

That's actually a bug-feature: whatsapp is supposed to be tied to a phonenumber.

For example, take this use case: you have whatsapp with a german number. You go to italy. You get an italian sim. You get a new phone. Result: you can not use your german whatsapp. There is no way you can activate your german whatsapp account without yout german sim.

Re: Google Duo, a simple 1-to-1 video calling app

#309

Post by TheHappyRock » Tue, Aug 16, 2016, 4:07 PM UTC

I'll be happy if they can settle on a plan and stick to it for more than 6 months. The GChat, Voice, and Hangouts strategy has been frustrating because the features I wanted would land in different apps with varying levels of support. For example, hangouts dialer is nice for free voip, but I am not sure I can fully let go of voice.

Re: Google Duo, a simple 1-to-1 video calling app

#310

Post by mvdwoord » Tue, Aug 16, 2016, 4:09 PM UTC

tomschlick wrote: post #198

Sylos wrote: post #179

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The question is not whether Google knows how to do proper end-to-end-encryption, the question is whether they want to do it. They have a clear incentive to not do it properly, which is being able to sift through your data to sell it to advertisers.

Would be an interesting test to start chatting on an well established account (a few years old) about something you have never talked about before and see if you get relevant ads.

I did that some years ago on hangouts and it was almost real time. My buddy was on a machine without ad blocker and as soon as we started talking (as an experiment) about cars and mentioning a certain brand a few times, he received ads for that brand moments later.